1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
"1978 World Cup" redirects here. For the golf competition, see 1978 World Cup (men's golf).
Copa Mundial de Fútbol
Argentina '78 (Spanish)
Argentina
1–25 June
16 (from 5 confederations)
6 (in 5 host cities)
Argentina (1st title)
38
102 (2.68 per match)
1,545,791 (40,679 per match)
Mario Kempes (6 goals)
Mario Kempes[1]
The Cup was won by the host nation, Argentina, who defeated the Netherlands 3–1 in the final, after extra time. The final was held at River Plate's home stadium, Estadio Monumental, in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth team (after Uruguay, Italy, England, and West Germany) to be both hosts and world champions and the third South American team to win a World Cup. Argentina, the Netherlands, and Brazil were the gold, silver, and bronze medalists, respectively. Iran and Tunisia made their first appearances in the tournament. The defending champions, West Germany were eliminated in the second round (finishing third in their group). This was also the last World Cup tournament to use the original inclusion of 16 teams. Since the first World Cup in 1930, only 15 teams (plus the host, who automatically qualified) had been allowed to qualify (the reigning title holders also received automatic qualification from 1934 through 2002); but for the next World Cup, in Spain, FIFA expanded that tournament to 24 teams.
This tournament was marred by flagrant controversy, domestic politics, and alleged interference and match-fixing by the Argentine authoritarian military junta government, who were using this tournament as an opportunity for nationalistic propaganda, and for the relatively new military junta to seek legitimacy on the world stage.[3] One player, Ralf Edström, was arrested for speaking to a person in Buenos Aires; however, the Argentine military released him upon recognising its error (that he was a Swedish footballer, not an ordinary person).[4]
The official match ball was the Adidas Tango.
Format[edit]
The format of the competition stayed the same as in 1974: 16 teams qualified, divided into four groups of four. Each group played a round-robin with two points for a win and one for a draw, and goal difference used to separate teams level on points. The top two teams in each group would advance to the second round, where they would be split into two groups of four. The winners of each group would play each other in the final, and the second-place finishers in the third place match.
Mascot[edit]
The official mascot of this World Cup was Gauchito, a boy wearing an Argentina kit. His hat (with the words ARGENTINA '78), neckerchief, and whip are typical of gauchos.
Squads[edit]
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1978 FIFA World Cup squads.
With six goals, Mario Kempes was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 102 goals were scored by 62 players, with three of them credited as own goals.